


Beware the Class in Room 37

by AsteriskEmily



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: i don’t know how to tag, jons a teacher but all his students are avatars uh oh, school au, teacher!jon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:01:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 16,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26095297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsteriskEmily/pseuds/AsteriskEmily
Summary: Jon had heard some rumors about this class. They were isolated from the other students. Instead of going to their many classes throughout the day, they had to stay in one room with one teacher who taught all of the subjects. They were apparently all “problem students” who nobody actually wanted to deal with. Teachers assigned to them either outright refused or quit their jobs. That’s why Jon was the only option.“They can’t be as bad as everyone makes them out to be.” They reached the door to room 37 and principal Hein shook her head.“No,” she turned the key and opened the door. “They are much worse.”
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist
Comments: 116
Kudos: 324





	1. Problem Students

“You have to understand.” The principal explained while walking Jon to his classroom. “In a normal situation we would never throw you into the deep end like this, but there was no one else to teach this class.”

Jon had been gotten this job as a substitute teacher over the summer, shortly after Jonah’s failed attempt at the Watcher’s Crown, and he had been in training for the past few weeks. This would be his first time actually teaching a class, but he didn’t feel unprepared. Still, Principal Hein seemed very worried.

“It’s no problem,” he tried to calm her. “I’m sure everything will go well.”

“If you think that, then you definitely haven’t met any of these students.” She laughed, but didn’t look like she actually found anything funny. Jon had heard some rumors about this class. They were isolated from the other students. Instead of going to their many classes throughout the day, they had to stay in one room with one teacher who taught all of the subjects. They were apparently all “problem students” who nobody actually wanted to deal with. Teachers assigned to them either outright refused or quit their jobs. That’s why Jon was the only option.

“They can’t be as bad as everyone makes them out to be.” They reached the door to room 37 and principal Hein shook her head.

“No,” she turned the key and opened the door. “They are much worse.”

Room 37 was in the basement of the school, so the only windows were the small ones that lined the top of the wall opposite to the door. No posters hung on the walls, so there was nothing, but the off-white walls surrounding Jon at all sides. Behind his desk there was a white board that looked like it had never been touched and in front there were 14 desks arranged in a half circular around the room. Principal Hein wished him luck and left Jon alone in the empty room. After about twenty minutes, the first bell rung and students started to file in.

The first student that came in said nothing, just flipped off one of the lights and sat down in their seat. Jon was about to turn it back on when he saw the glare that they had fixed on him. The second skipped in and sat next to the first. She started what looked like a one sided conversation while she reached into her bag and pulled out an embroidery hoop and started to pull pieces of pink string through the thick fabric. The third sat away from the other two and started staring directly into the one light that was still on. Number four and number five came in together, four being carried over five’s shoulder. They filled the gap between one and three and five joined the conversation that two was having with one. Number six had a weighted blanket draped around him and he sat in the seat furthest from the windows. Number seven, who had a rope tied around his ankle, did the exact opposite and sat directly under the windows. Eight threw her bag against the wall before dropping down into her seat and beginning a rant towards seven. Nine appeared suddenly and joined eights rant as though they had been there the whole time. Ten smiled and waved at Jon before she sat next to two, who reached into her bag and handed her what looked like a handmade rag doll. Eleven, who Jon had never met before, said “good morning Mr. Sims” and sat next to three. Twelve’s face was covered by a hoodie and they started playing solitaire as soon as they sat. Thirteen had energy like a golden retriever and he seemed to be trying to subtlety sniff Jon. Lastly, fourteen wore a face mask like a surgeon and she tapped her fingers anxiously on her desk.

“Good Morning, class.” Jon stood as looked around as the strange group of teenagers that were all silently judging him. “I’m Mr. Sims and I’m going to be teaching you for an indefinite amount of time.” Eleven’s had shot up. “I’ll answer any questions you have after I take attendance.”

He called out the names on his list and got a response from everyone except for number four, Selene, who five, Ara, answered for instead. As soon as that was done Eleven, Simon, raised his hand again.

“What happened to Ms. Ralis?” He asked. Jon felt static dance on the tip of his tongue when he answered.

“It’s my understanding that she took an early retirement.” That wasn’t exactly true, in reality, she quit after her first few days with this class.

“She retired a week into the school year?” Asked number three, Mory.

“That’s what I was told, yes.” He nodded and forced a smile. Number nine, Bette, started laughing and Jon could feel the start of a migraine. Selene wrote something down in her note  
book and handed it to Ara, who then raised her hand.

“Selene wants to know if you have any questions.” She read. 

“Um, yes.” Jon was definitely curious about the class, but he would have to be carful not to Ask any of his questions. “I was wondering if any of you would be able to explain why exactly your all in this... unique class.”

“It’s Dolly’s turn to explain.” one, Tamala, mumbled and pointed to Dolly, two, next to them. She looked up from her embroidery and nodded. 

“We’re all troublemakers in one way or another.” She got up and all but waltzed around the room like her explanation was some big performance. “Most teachers find us aggravating, annoying, and sometimes even scary. No one wants to deal with us, so they hide us down here. It’s fine if you don’t want to deal with us either, we’re used t-“ suddenly she cut herself off and her body slumped forward. Jon looked around, but none of her classmates seemed shocked or concerned. Then, he noticed ten, Milly, holding a rag doll with yarn for hair was the same shade of red as Dolly’s. It was slumped over in the exact posture as Dolly and, when Milly started to move it, Dolly moved too. The doll and Dolly both walked back to their desks (though Milly was just miming a desk for the doll) and they sat down. Milly dropped the doll and Dolly came back to herself.

“I don’t think we have to worry about Mr. Sims.” Milly smiled like she had nothing to do with whatever just happened. “He’s had plenty of experience with people like us.”

“You’re the Archivist, right?” Simon asked. Jon spent a moment in shocked silence. He nodded and looked around at the students and started to notice the details that he had been trying to block out. 

Tamala shied away from the light and the shadow that stretched out behind them was far too big. Suddenly Jon knew about how they started to talk to the thing in the closet and under the bed and just out of the corner of their eye. He knew about how they insisted on blackout and how at night their bedroom became more like a sensory deprivation chamber.

Those stars and flowers that covered Dolly’s arms weren’t drawings, they were embroidery. The fabric she was stitching wasn’t muslin, it was her own skin. Jon knew how she started making dolls of her parents and her siblings and her friends. Her parents didn’t know where she learned to make them or where she was getting the fabric.

Mory felt drawn into the light just like all his friends. The moths had been singing to him for years and they had so much in common. Some of them even taught him to make silk, which Dolly always appreciated. She always gave him fabric scraps to chew on in exchange.

The fog was caught in Selene’s throat and whenever she tried to speak it all that would come out. Her mom didn’t like her cousins and she didn’t either, but they all had plenty in common. Even if she didn’t carry the Lukas name, it was obvious what family she belonged to. 

Ara Hated Selene and worked every day to make her life a living hell. What started as pulling pigtails so many years ago had evolved into burns and bruises. Still, no matter how much she hated her, her freezing, wet fog was the only thing that calmed her smoldering, hot flames, so they stuck together.

Flint loved going to the beach because, every time they went, his brother buried him in the sand. After the first time they did it, he couldn’t stop shaking. Without the weight, he felt like he would fly away and he hated that feeling. His dad got him a weighted blanket for Christmas and now he took it everywhere so he could feel the sand crushing him and pushing all the air out of his lungs.

Samir dreamt of being an astronaut. He dreamt of floating among the stars with no gravity to hold him down. Of course those dreams felt a bit more real when the laws of gravity started to bend around him. He could float through the air as though he were riding in a space station, but he had a lot of work to do before he’d actually be qualified to fly off into space, so he couldn’t float off just yet. He always kept a rope around his ankle just in case he got a bit too caught up in the stars and someone needed to pull him down to earth.

Lucy’s grandfather had been a soldier and scars marked him, both mental and physical. Part of the way that he chose to cope with these scars was to teach Lucy everything he knew. At age five she knew which parts of the body would be lethal hits. At ten she knew how to gauge out someone’s eyeballs with her thumbs. She fired her first gun at thirteen. She was a perfect shot.

Bette was not in class today yes she was. The green streaks in her hair were the same color as her natural bleached blonde. She was somewhere between 4’9” and 6’ tall. What door did she come through? It certainly wasn’t the yellow one in the back, there is no yellow door in the back. Wait, weren’t her eyes green a second ago?

Milly loved playing with dolls because the world of the dolls was entirely under her control. Dolly’s dolls were her favorite, they were just like real people and when she played with them it was like she was playing with the real people. Most people didn’t like being played with, but Dolly loved it, so they became fast friends. She liked Dolly almost as much as she liked the spiders.

Simon was told he was a “gifted” student, but that just meant he retains facts. He would figure out what long words meant from the other word a that they sounded like. He talked his mom through fixing her car by recalling information from a cartoon. He could recite the books he read word for word. Teachers sometimes said that he was “to smart for his own good” and they were probably right. When Mr. Jenkins went out sick for a month, he Knew exactly how hard it was for him to breath. When Jenny from grade 2 couldn’t come over because of a family issue, he Knew the face of the man who shot her mother. When he met the rest of his class, he Knew they were just like him.

Kit nearly died the second they were born, but, for whatever reason, they survived and the old man who was supposed to make a full recovery in the room next door died suddenly. They couldn’t remember ever learning to play cards, but they always knew how. No one taught them to make bets, but they were a born gambler. They never lost. 

Avery was born into a pack and he was raised as a hunter. Most of his family were like fierce wolves, but he was always a bit like a sweet dog who didn’t know how big he was. Despite his soft exterior, Avery could sniff out prey with the best of them. Their parents left the pack four years ago to join the everchase and now all they want is to join them.

Sal’s teeth were sharp and everything about her smile read “predator.” Most of her family actually didn’t eat much meat, but that was always her favorite meal. Once, when she was young, Sal was left home alone at night. She had to make dinner for herself, but she was still too young to know how to cook. After a bit of deliberation, she decided to eat the raw burger patties in the freezer. Nowadays, raw meat was about the only thing that she could keep down.

“Oh, I hate this.” Jon mumbled. He walked out of the room and out of the building. On his way out he passed principal Hein. She seemed to understand.


	2. Who’s Your Friend Who Likes to Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jon has a bit of a breakdown, so it’s Bette to the rescue.

Martin’s volunteer work at the local library was pretty simple. Scan, reshelve, repeat. The little archival experience that he actually had made it easy. The hardest part was when people talked to him, asking for the location of certain books when they could easily look it up on one of the computers. Even after countless experiences with the supernatural, nothing scared him more than the sight of someone walking up to him with a question that he couldn’t answer. But the person walking up to him right now wasn’t a patron in need of help, it was Jon. Jon, who was supposed to be at work right now.

“What are you doing here?” Martin asked placing a hand on his partner’s shoulder. Jon’s hands were shaking and he looked like he’d seen a ghost (something that Martin really wished was out of the realm of possibility).

“I can’t do it, Martin.” He stuttered. “All of them. Every single one.”

“All of what, Jon?” Martin guided him to sit down at one of the tables in the open area between the shelves.

“The students.” He muttered, sounding completely defeated.

“What about them?” Martin squeezed Jon’s hand. He knew that if something happened to a group of innocent children, Jon would never forgive himself. He just hoped that Jon was making it sound worse than it was.

“They’re all avatars.” That wasn’t what he was expecting. Right as he was about ask for more information, he heard the sound of a familiar door creaking open behind him. He and Jon turned to look at the pale yellow door, but Helen was no where to be seen. Instead, a young girl leaned against the door frame, an impossibly wide smile spread across her cheeks.

“Hello, Bette.” Jon sighed. Martin realized with a start that this was one of the students.

“Hello, Mr. Sims.” She waved. “Will you be returning to class?” 

“Just a moment, I’m having a panic attack.” He looked back down at the table and clutched his head in his hands. He started taking deep breaths to try and calm himself.

“That’s understandable, given the circumstances.” She pulled up a chair and sat down next to Martin. “I can take you back whenever you’re ready.”

“So you’re an avatar of the Spiral?” Martin looked at her nervously, having trouble deciding if she was really there.

“Avatar? I like that!” She smiled and nodded. “Me and the rest of the class call ourselves Problem Students. Some kids cheat on quizzes or push each other into lockers, we scare people and feed on their fear. Though, to be fair, Lucy does push Flint into his locker a lot. He likes it though, so I don’t think it counts.”

“Oh, great.” He tried to force a smile, but it was obvious how uncomfortable he was. He tried to think of something that he would say to a normal kid and hoped that it would work the same with her. “So, what do you do for fun?”

“I’m an imaginary friend!” She said. Martin immediately recognized his mistake. “I make friends with people, but no one around them ever meets me, so they think their going crazy. It’s more fulfilling with older kids because they aren’t supposed to have imaginary friends, but I like playing with little kids better.”

“That’s nice...” Martin couldn’t stand at her anymore, the migraine was too much. He looked back to Jon, who seemed to be doing a bit better. A question came to mind that he didn’t necessarily want the answer to. “Are all imaginary friends a part of the Spiral?” 

“No, just some of us.” Even without looking, Martin could hear how wide her smile was. “A lot of kids just have really active imaginations. You know it’s nice to talk about this, most people find it really scare that I pretend to be not real. Or maybe I’m Not real and I’m actually pretending to be real. It’s had to say.”

She continued to talk about the ambiguity of her reality for several more minutes. Martin was growing more and more uneasy with each word, but she seemed so genuinely happy to be able to talk about it that he couldn’t bring himself to ask her to stop. Maybe she should try therapy, he thought.

“It’s gonna be real nice to have a teacher who really gets us.” She smiled at Jon who didn’t look up and gave her a thumbs up. “Most people like us, Avatars, you called them, they aren’t very willing to help teach the next generation. And those that are, don’t usually work at public schools, and doubt my mum would be happy if I were to drop out to get homeschooled by Helen. I don’t think that she could teach me much geometry either.”

“No, I don’t think she could.” Jon finally looked back up at his student. His hands were shaking less and he seemed less like he was teetering on the edge of a break down. “I’m really your only option, huh?”

“No one else could do it.” She laughed.

“I’m going to do horribly.” He stood from his seat and gestured for Bette to do the same. 

“You can’t make us much worse.” She opened a yellow door that definitely didn’t belong in that wall.

“Have a nice day at school, you two.” Martin stood up and leaned against his cart full of books.

“Bye-bye nice man I never learned the name of.” Bette stood on her toes and waved to him like he was far in the distance.

“It’s Martin.” He told her, but she was already turning and walking through the door. Jon gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before running to catch up with her. 

“Goodbye Martin, I’ll see you when I get home.” He called as the door shut behind him. Bette led him back to the classroom through the twisting corridors. Back in room, Ara seemed to be doing a comedy roast of Selene while Dolly danced around them, being controlled by Milly. Samir was watching this from the ceiling, with Tamala holding his rope like a balloon. Mory, Avery, and Sal were losing a game of Gin Rummy to Kit and Simon was keeping track of the scores. In the hall, Lucy was leaning against the locker that she had trapped Flint inside. Jon opened the door and called them inside before addressing the whole class.

“Can everyone please return to their seats?” He said. The Problem Students did as told and they looked silently at their teacher. “I’m sorry about all that, I just needed a little time to process the whole... situation here. Now, we’ve missed all of geometry, so it’s time for English. Can one of you tell me where you were in your books?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bette’s roll based entirely off of a conversation I had with my friend where I told him that I was his imaginary friend and when he asked the guy next to him if I was real, he just shrugged.  
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	3. Gym Class

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That Buford and Baljeet type dynamic.

Jon knew that it was a bad idea, but he was honestly scared to find out what these kids did for P.E., so every day, he walked them to the auxiliary gym, handed them his keys and told them not to kill each other. They didn’t seem to be killing each other, so that was good, but Selene did have a bloody nose after class yesterday, so it wasn’t great. He had to send her up to the nurse, but, without being able to speak for herself, she needed a translator. He could’ve done it, he probably should’ve done it, but he didn’t want to leave the class alone after one of them already got injured, meaning he sent Ara with her instead. So now none of the Problem Students were allowed in the nurse’s office and he couldn’t let any of them get injured.

“Alright, Physical Education,” Jon addressed the group of teens in a semi-circle around him. “What are you supposed to be doing?”

“We don’t know!” Cheered Avery. The rest of the class nodded in agreement.

“People have always just left us alone for this bit of the day.” Samir added. “It’s less like a gym class and more like recess.”

“Okay... then what do you usually do?” He asked. Everyone started to talk over each other, but Sal actually raised her hand. “Yes, Sal?”

“We take turns choosing what we’re gonna do.” She explained. “So Dolly could lead a yoga class one day, then Flint could have us doing weight training, then Avery will want to play tag, and so on and so fourth.”

“Who’s turn is it to pick today?” He turned to Simon who was already pulling out some sort of schedule on his phone. 

“Today is Lucy’s turn.” He said. Jon looked around only to find that Lucy was missing. Then she came out of one of the storage rooms dragging a large bag of cloth balls behind her.

“Dodgeball!” She called out dumping the balls in the center of the room. She picked up two and threw them at the rest of the group, hitting Milly and Samir. The other students scattered around the gym and started a war waged with balls. Milly and Samir sat down in the half pulled out bleachers that were pushed against the wall and Jon moved to join them.

“So, if all you do is play games, how did Selene get hurt yesterday?” He asked as Milly tied Samir’s rope to her water bottle to keep him weighed down.

“She just tripped while we were playing red light, green light.” Samir explained. “Fell right on her face. It was hard to watch.”

“That’s good,” Jon nodded. “I was worried that there had been a problem with a classmate, I know she has difficulty with the group.”

“That’s sorta the point of her, isn’t it?” Samir pointed out.

“Yep, she likes being the outcast. I think she thinks it’s less pressure.” Milly took out her Dolly doll and mimed it dodging and throwing balls. “Though, to be fair, she wouldn’t have tripped if it weren’t for Ara melting her shoe to the floor.”

“She what?” Just as he processed what she told him, Lucy was hit in the leg, sending her out and Milly and Samir back into the game. “Ara, can you come here for a second?” 

“One sec Mr. Sims.” She called back, throwing the last of the balls hoarded in her arms out at her peers. She jogged over and stood in front of the bleachers. “What’s up?”

“We need to talk about your treatment of Selene.” Ara frowned and sat down next to him. The cheap plastic of the bleachers warped slightly at the heat.

“What about it.” Her voice took a turn for combative.

“Look, I understand your whole mutually beneficial arrangement and I...” It dawned on Jon how strange what he was about to say was. “I can excuse the public embarrassment and the name calling and all that.”

“But?” Ara looked nervously at where Selene was trying to hide from the game in the corner of the gym.

“But I’m gonna have to draw the line at physical harm.” She crossed her arms and blew a puff of smoke out of her nose.

“...I didn’t expect her to fall over.” She mumbled. “I didn’t even mean to melt her shoe, I just got too heated up.”

“Learning when you’re getting out of control is important, especially for people like us.” Jon sighed and placed an awkward hand on her shoulder. “How about next time you feel yourself getting heated up like that, you tell me and we’ll figure out how to help you cool down, alright?”

“Thank you, Mr. Sims.” She nodded. The bleachers around her were almost entirely melted.

“Do you want to go back to the game or do you want to take a minute to try and cool down?” He asked her, looking at the bleachers around her that were almost entirely melted.

“I need a minute. Don’t want to get us banned from the gym, too.” She laughed a little and moved to sit on the metal part of the bleachers. “Could you call over Selene too, I’d like to apologize.”

Jon called her over and left the girls alone to talk. He went back to sitting with the kids who were out of the game. Milly was back out, though she still played vicariously through Dolly. She smiled when he sat down next to her.

“Did it work?” She asked. “Are they talking?” 

“You planned this.” Jon realized.

“Yep, those too are way too oblivious to talk on their own.” She set down her doll and looked over at her classmates. Jon looked too and saw Selene leaning her head against Ara’s shoulder and blowing cold fog around them.

“They really do need each other.” He noted.

“It’s about time they figured it out.” She picked the doll back up and made Dolly throw a ball directly into Flint’s chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, gay teenage monsters. This fic is really just gonna be all these kids gradually deciding that Jon is their dad.  
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	4. A Strange Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin meets another problem student

They One thing that Martin absolutely loved about living in such a small town was being able to recognize almost anyone he passed in the street. Even here, in a crowded farmers market without Jon, he didn’t have to feel lonely because the Sydney Dylan, who’s son just got his library card, was buying ginger at the next stand over. But Martin didn’t know the kid who was running up to him right now.

He was a tall boy with long blond hair. His style was a bit more alternative than you might expect to see this far in the middle of nowhere, but not enough to really stand out. The thing that was so off putting about this kid wasn’t that he was running directly towards Martin, but that he was wearing a blindfold. Despite his lack of vision, he dodged and weaved through the crowd with easy. He stopped dead in front of Martin and grabbed a bundle of rhubarb from the basket next to him. Martin was about to try to leave unnoticed, hoping that he’d just mistaken himself as the target, but the kid pulled down his blindfold and held out a hand to stop him.

“Why do you smell like that?” The boy asked. Martin was still trying to figure out how he was meant to respond to that when a woman walked up behind the boy and he turned to present her with the rhubarb. 

“Great Job!” She smiled and placed the bundle into cloth bag that hung off of her elbow. “That’s everything, you ready to go?”

“Wait!” The boy grabbed her arm and stopped her from walking off. Then he nodded his head towards Martin, reintroducing him to the conversation.

“Oh,” she looked him up and down critically. “Hello.”

“Hello?” Martin began to rub his nervously.

“What do you need?” She looked like she was trying to put space between him and the boy.

“I don’t really know,” he gestured to the boy who seemed oblivious to the distrust the woman was directing towards Martin. “He just came up to talk to me.”

“I see.” She sighed and turned to the boy. “Avery, remember what we talked about for when talking to people we don’t know.”

“Right.” He nodded and held his hand out at Martin. “I’m Avery, it’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Martin.” He hesitated to take his hand, but the woman nodded in approval. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“And I’m Chuck.” The woman shook his hand as well before turning back to Avery. “What did you want to say to Martin?”

“Why do you smell like Mr. Sims?” He asked, and everything started to fall into place.

“You’re a student of Jon’s?” Avery wasn’t nearly as disorienting as Bette had been, but now that he was looking, Martin could see clear bits of Daisy in the young boy. In Chuck too, for that matter.

“Yes, I am.” Avery nodded excitedly. “Why do you smell like him.”

“He likes to borrow my sweaters sometimes and he usually forgets to wash them.” Martin thought back to the night before when Jon sat on the couch in their cottage, grading a stack of papers that looked like they’d been through hell and back, and wearing the very sweater that Martin worn now. Avery accepted the answer and looked ready to leave it at that, but Chuck had more questions.

“Why does the Archivist borrow your sweaters?” She asked.

“His name is Jon,” he told her. “And because it is a very nice sweaters.”

“It does look like a nice sweater.” She smiled. 

“Should I ask about the blindfold?” Martin wondered out loud to her.

“It’s a training game we do.” She explained. “I give Avery something to find and he sniffs it out.”

“That’s pretty clever.” Martin laughed a little as Avery wandered off towards a man selling locally harvested honey.

“No substitute for a proper education, though.” She deepened her voice like she was doing and impression of someone. “That’s what his parents always said.”

“Oh, so you’re not...” Martin trailed off, realizing that Chuck was probably a bit to young to be someone’s mother.

“No, no. I’m just a member of the pack” She fiddled a little with the ends of her hair. “That probably sounds kinda crazy.”

“Well, I’m dating a semi-omniscient substitute teacher, so there’s definitely weirder things.” Chuck laughed in agreement.

“Ready to go, Pup?” She turned to Avery who nodded and started to follow behind her.

“Bye, Martin!” He called back. “Tell Mr. Sims I said hi!”

“Will do.” Martin watched as they rounded the corner and left his line of sight before turning to a stand selling handmade soaps. He walked home, only stopping briefly to take a few pictures of some good cows. He called for Jon to help him put everything away.

“Run into anyone at the market?” Jon asked, sensing his partner’s light mood.

“One of your students, actually.” Martin smiled when he thought back to the energetic young man who ran up to him earlier. “He asked why I smelled like you.”

“I’m gonna guess it was Avery?” Jon laughed.

“Yeah, and a member of his pack too.” He opened a cupboard and put the cookies that Jon always ate to quickly just out of his reach. “Her name was Chuck.”

“Oh, he’s mentioned her a couple of times. She was the one who taught him before his parents put him in public school.” Jon took the empty bags and hung them by the door. “You think she’d be willing to come talk to the class.”

“About what?” They both dropped onto the couch where Jon was working on some sort of slide show before he came in.

“I’ve been thinking that I might as well teach them a little about the entities since most of them don’t have a lot of connection to this stuff besides each other.” He explained. “Figured it might be nice to have some other avatars come talk about their experiences too if I could find any I’m on good terms with.”

“That sounds like a great idea.” Martin leaned his head onto Jon’s and looked down at a slide that explained Robert Smirk and his 14 fears.

“I might even ask Helen, I think her and Bette are... friends.” Jon flipped to a slide that warned against books from Leitner’s library or artifacts traded by Mikaele Salesa.

“And that’s an awful idea.” Martin laughed and kissed his partner’s head. “I never thought I’d see the day that Mr. Trust-No-One himself would make amends with one of his greatest enemies in order to shape the minds of the next generation.”

“Helen isn’t one of my greatest enemies.” Jon chuckled “and it’s Mr. Sims to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The hunter pack believes in sustainable living and only eat what they catch or what is locally grown. I love the hunter pack. I also think about the problem student’s parents a lot  
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	5. Something Awful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy encounters some... trouble with the slaughter

Jon was awoken from a restless sleep of nightmares that weren’t his own, by a knock at the cottage door. Martin sat up in bed as well and cast a concerned glance towards the sound of the knocking.

‘Who?’ He mouthed to word in case whatever was outside was a threat. Jon allowed himself to See outside the door and he found Lucy, his student.

“It’s one of the Problem Students.” Jon furrowed his eyebrows and pushed out of the bed. He had no idea how she knew where they lived or what could bring her there so late at night. Martin got up as well, looking just as concerned as Jon felt. He leaned against the kitchen counter as Jon moved to open the door. 

The sight in front of him was so much worse than he had expected. It was Lucy, teenage avatar of the Slaughter, covered in blood and clutching a kitchen knife in her hands. Jon Knew that the blood was a mix of her own and someone else’s, but he couldn’t tell who. She looked back at him with an empty gaze in her eyes and tear streaks running down her face.

“Hi, Mr. Sims.” She mumbled. “Can I come in?”

Jon nodded, speechless, and guided her to the couch in the next room. He was zeroed in on his student, so he only vaguely head Martin mutter ‘holy shit’ before he ran to get the first aid kit.

“I’m sorry to bother you, I just didn’t really know what to do.” Lucy sank into the cushions, dropped her knife on the floor, and buried her head in her hands. 

“It’s not a bother.” Jon reassured, kneeling down in front of her and trying to check for any open wounds. “Are you hurt?”

“I think that all the cuts have closed already, I’ve always healed fast.” She pushed her hair out of her face and looked up at Jon. An empty laugh escaped her lips. “You should see the other guy.”

Martin stumbled in with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and bandages only for Jon to subtly shake his head. Lucy looked over to him with poorly hidden fear.

“This is Martin, my partner.” Jon introduced. “He makes the best tea in the world, if you’re interested.”

“Tea sounds good.” She started to curl back into herself as Martin nodded and went to make the tea. After a few minutes of silence he returned with three mugs. Lucy reached out to take the handle, but flinched back when she saw the blood on her hand. Martin set the mug next to her instead.

“If you’d like to get cleaned up before anything else, the bathroom is just down the hall.” Martin said softly as he set the mug next to her instead.

“No,” she shook her head. “I’d like to deal with everything as quickly as possible.”

“What exactly is the everything that needs to be dealt with?” Jon was trying to be as careful as possible to not force her to answer, even if he could hear a tape running somewhere out of sight.

“You mentioned that your role as Archivist was to have people tell you about the things that happened to them.” She stared down at her bloody hands and she clenched her fists. “I think I’d like to make a statement. I’m not gonna be able to say it on my own.”

“Are you sure.” Martin grabbed a blanket from the back of one of the chairs and wrapped it around her. 

“Yeah, I need to say this, I can deal with some nightmares.” She pulled the blanket closer around herself, wincing a little at the red stains starting to soak into it.

“I- fine.” Jon sighed looked around for the tape, finding it running on the bookshelf. “Martin it’s probably best if you...”

“Yeah, I got it.” He picked up his mug and slipped quietly out of the room.

“Alright, how do you do this?” Lucy took a deep breath and looked expectantly at her teacher.

“Well, first things first.” He picked up the tape and sat down on the floor in front of Lucy. “Statement of Lucy Cohen, regarding...”

“I... don’t know.” She sighed. “Something awful.”

“Statement taken direct from subject, audio recording by Jonathan Sims, the Archivist. Statement begins.” He gestured for her to start and she nodded.

“I just talk?” She asked

“If it would be easier for you, I can Ask you,” he told her. “but after that, you won’t have much choice in what parts you do and don’t share. It will just be everything.”

“That’s probably for the best.”

“Okay, What Happened?” Static filled the air as a look of discomfort passed over Lucy’s face, making Jon wince.

“Well, it really started a few days ago. I was at the store with my grandfather and I saw this guy. There was nothing off about him, it just struck me as odd that I didn’t recognize him. I’m not even that great at remembering faces, so he could’ve been someone that I passed on the street every day and I just didn’t recognize him, but this guy just stuck out as unfamiliar. Something in the back of my brain told me that I should just drop everything and attack him, which, yeah, it does that sometimes, but this was different. It wasn’t the usual reminder that I could just snap, it was like a need to eliminate a threat. Still, I just pushed it down and it went away once he was out of sight.

After that I just kept seeing him. I was at a park with some of the other Problem Students and he was sitting on a bench. I was out skating and he was going into a store across the street from where I stopped to check my phone. That sort of thing. It wasn’t really anything out of the ordinary, he was really just a guy, but every time I saw him, my brain classified him as a threat. Then I was walking home from school today and I got the feeling I was being followed, so I looked behind me and I saw him. 

I tried to keep my head down and ignore him, figured I was being paranoid, but it’s a pretty long walk from the school to my house and he was behind me the whole way. I turned around and he stopped when I looked at him. I told him to stop following me or I’d call the cops. He nodded and turned around to walk away. 

I figured that that was it, so I walked the rest of the way home and went back to business as usual. Dinner, homework, Gramps gets drunk and tells me some awful story from when he was in the army, then go to bed. Still, through it all, I stayed on high alert, like I somehow knew something bad was about to happen. I was trying to go to bed, but I couldn’t get myself calm enough to actually sleep, so I was just on my phone. Then there was a loud crash downstairs.

I ran down the stairs and saw that same man, knife in hand, stood over my grandfather as he bled out. He turned towards me and started to come over to me. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the big vegetable knife. He was right behind me when I ran out to where I found him and the struggle began. He managed to get a few good slices in at me, but nothing that cut to deep. I was moving faster than I thought that I could, almost entirely on auto-pilot. For the most part I was just dodging his attacks, but at some point he paused for just a second and I took the opening. I dug my knife deep into his stomach and he stumbled backwards onto the ground. I was kneeling over him and I stabbed him over and over and over again until my arms gave out. Then I just stood over him until the blood stopped coming out.

So it was just me and two corpses. I collapsed on the ground somewhere between my dead grandfather and his dead killer and I just started weeping. After a while I heard a phone ringing. I moved up the stairs and into my room where I found that Simon was calling me. He told me that he Knew that I was distressed and he asked what happened. I didn’t tell him, I just said that it was something bad. He asked if it was Entity related and I said it was, so he suggested I go to you. He Knew your address and told it to me and I threw on my coat and walked here.”

“Statement ends.” Jon looked at his shaking student and he almost wanted to cry. “How are you doing?”

“Not great, teach, not great.” She laughed a little and wiped fresh tears from her eyes. “What happens next?”

“Here, how’s this?” Jon stood up and tried to sound comforting while thinking through the plan forming in his head. “You get yourself cleaned up and I’ll make a call to a friend of mine who can help us take care of this whole... situation. After that, we can grab some of your stuff from your house and you can stay here in our spare room for as long as you need.”

Lucy nodded at stood up a few minutes later she was in the shower and Jon was on the phone with Daisy.

“Jon, it’s one in the morning.” She mumbled. He could hear Basira groaning next to her.

“Yeah, but it’s really important.” He bounced his leg nervously. 

“Fine, I’m putting you on speaker.” She sighed and after a few seconds Basira was muttering incoherent, tired greetings. “So what did you do?”

“Okay, remember when you guys came down here a few weeks ago and it was like ‘oh yeah, we all have semi-normal lives now and everything is fine’?” He had been dragging his feet telling the others about the complications with his teaching situation, so he was very disappointed that this is how they were finding out.

“We recall.” Basira mumbled

“Great, so first I’m gonna tell you it’s not as bad as it sounds.” It really wasn’t, he honestly was happier than he’d been in years, this was just a minor hiccup.

“It’s you, so I’m gonna doubt that.” Daisy said and that was... fair.

“So I’ve been teaching this class.” He started.

“Yeah, they’re all problem students, you said.” Daisy finished for him.

“Yes, they are. They’re all great, just a bit hard to deal with for most people.” He explained. “But I did leave out the fact that the reason that they’re hard to deal with is because they’re all avatars.”

Basira and Daisy were suddenly both yelling at him for failing to share this information. 

“You done yet?” He asked after a few minutes.

“Yes, just,” Basira sighed. “Why are you telling us now, what happened.”

“Well, the thing is, one of them did kill someone.” Jon ran his hand across his face as they started to yell again. Martin passed him a sympathetic look from where he was trying to find clothes that would fit Lucy. “It was in self-defense and the guy killed her grandfather beforehand, I just need to figure out what to do next.”

“Fuck, okay.” Daisy sounded significantly more exhausting than she did when he woke her up for this call. “How did she kill him?”

“To quote her, she ‘stabbed him over and over and over again until her arms gave out.’” 

“That’s... a lot.” Basira seemed to share the exhaustion that consumed all of them.

“I know some sectioned officers down there.” Daisy yawned “I’ll make some calls and make this go away.”

“Thanks.” They said some goodbyes and goodnights before hanging up. Shortly after Lucy emerged from the bathroom wearing an old t-shirt from Jon’s college days and a pair of sweatpants that had splotches of paint from when he and Martin re-did the walls of the cottage.

“Alright, time for sleep. Again, I’m sorry about the nightmares.” Jon stretched his arms above his head and heard a slightly concerning pop from his shoulder.

“What about-“ she started

“Nope, all taken care of.” He cut her off. “We can go get your stuff tomorrow morning. Once we’ve all slept.”

“Thank you.” Lucy stared down at the floor then back up at him. “Mr. Sims?”

“Yep?” He stood from the couch to walk with her to the bedrooms. 

“Could I...” she sighed and looked completely lost. “Could I get a hug?”

Jon wrapped his arms around her and she felt so much smaller than she had ever looked. He realized just how brave this kid was and it made him want to do anything to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought this was a fluffy happy fic about Jon adopting 14 children. Nope! My work reflects my mental state and I’m going crazy!
> 
> Come yell at me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	6. Selene’s B-Day Bash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s Selene’s birthday!!! Nothing bad could happen!!!!

The only reason that any of the Problem Students actually knew when Selene’s birthday was is because Simon Knew it. She didn’t do anything to celebrate and she refused to accept any gifts, going as far as throwing the presents out when the giver refused to take them back. Lucy had warned Jon beforehand that she would be much more closed of than usual on the day of her sixteenth birthday, but her was entirely unprepared for the state of the classroom when they entered that morning.

Fog seeped out from under the door. As soon as Jon opened it, he and the students behind him were met by a thick wall of cold mist. This wasn’t the fog that was trapped in Selene’s throat and came out of her mouth with every silent word, this was the Lonely.

“This is way worse that usually.” Ara started to move towards the fog, but Jon held her back. 

“None of you go in there.” He turned to the students, trying to ignore the horrible cold behind him. “I’m going to go in and try and find her. Lucy, please call Martin, tell him what’s happening, and tell him not to worry. The rest of you, wait out here and stay together.”

“Wait, your just gonna go in on your own?” Ara grabbed his arm and stopped him from entering the fog. She let go of him, but standing next to her still felt like standing too close to a bon fire. The heat that would usually burn him was comforting next to the freezing fog that reached out to them from the doorway. “You said that Selene’s entity was all about making people feel isolated, it feels like a bad idea to go in there alone from the start.”

“Ara, I’m not gonna take you with me, this is dangerous.” Jon knew that that’s what she was working towards, but he didn’t want to risk anyone else getting trapped.

“Obviously it’s dangerous, but if the goal is to make her less lonely, then I’m your girl.” Ara argued. “I know Selene better than anyone. Even if I’m an ass to her most of the time, I care about her and I can help. Plus, that fog is cold and you’re gonna need a heat source.”

Jon was about to tell her to sit with the rest of the class or maybe ask Sal to hold her back, but then he thought back to when Martin got caught in the Lonely. He had felt so helpless, but still wanted to do anything to help the man he loved. Ara was doing the same thing.

“Fine.” He held out his hand and Ara grabbed it. The heat was nothing like Jude Perry, but it would still probably be unbearable in any other situation. “Hold on to me and don’t let go.” 

The two of them walked into the fog and the sound of the classroom door slamming shut echoed behind them. Selene’s Lonely was different from Peter’s. Instead of the abandoned beach, Jon and Ara stood in the entrance to a huge mansion. A vast staircase stood in front of them, even with his Sight blurred by the fog, Jon knew they had to go up. The halls were a maze of expensive looking vases and portraits of strangers. In what felt like hours or perhaps even days, they began to reach a part of the house that was less well kept. The vases and paintings were dusty, certainly door knobs looked like they hadn’t been touched in years, and the potted house plants that marked each corner and turn were wilted and dead. 

“I-I think this is Selene’s house.” Ara walked a bit slower and held a bit tighter to Jon. 

“Have you been here before?” Jon shivered as they passed a life sized portrait of a stern faced woman, named by the placard as Mallory Bishop née Lukas, Selene’s mother.

“I tried to help her sneak out once when we were really little. It was her birthday then too.” Ara blew a puff of smoke out of her nose, something she always did when nervous. “One of the housekeeper’s caught us and we got in a lot of trouble. Her mum didn’t let Selene leave the house for a month and she almost pulled her out of school. That’s the only time I’ve ever seen Ms. Bishop.“

“What was she like? I want to be ready for parent-teacher conferences.” Jon laughed with no joy. Ara didn’t seem to even notice the joke.

“She was quiet.” She mumbled. “Not like Selene is quiet, her silence was scary, judgmental. She didn’t yell at us, just sort of stared at us and told us that what we did was bad. We didn’t know why we were in the wrong, looking back on it now I don’t think we were, but even back then Selene was being groomed for the Lonely, so Ms. Bishop didn’t want her being friends with me. Selene just listened to her, did as told and stopped being friends with me. I was to young to understand that it wasn’t her fault, so I started hating her. When I started bullying her, she stopped talking and I started burning.”

“Okay, no more sad stuff.” Jon squeezed Ara’s hand and actually managed to get a laugh out of her. “I have a question that I haven’t felt comfortable asking in a school setting to either you or Selene.”

“Should I be worried?” Ara raised an eyebrow and blew out some more smoke.

“No, it’s nothing bad.” It wasn’t bad, but it was a question that had haunted Jon since his first day teaching them. “I’ve just been wondering if you two can do like... vape tricks with the smoke and fog?”

Ara started laughing and trying to blow rings of smoke. Jon gave her the advice he could remember from when he and Georgie learned to do tricks like that in university. After a little while, the fog around them seemed thinner, almost like it was avoiding them. Ara managed to blow three rings in a row and they both cheered, only getting cut off by a quiet voice behind them.

“What are you doing here?” Selene was curled in a ball around the corner of the hall. Her white hair, usually pulled back into a pair of loose braids, was hanging down into her face. She looked up at the wall behind them, her entirely neutral expression was betrayed by the eyeliner and mascara that ran down her cheeks.

“Selene!” Ara pulled Jon down so they were both sat on the floor in front of her. “We were looking for you.”

“You found me, now leave.” Her voice was so much rougher than Jon had imagined it would be. 

“We came here to save you, we aren’t leaving without you.” Jon told her.

“What are you saving me from.” She tilted her head slightly in confusion. “This is my house.”

“C’mon, Lena, this isn’t your house, this is your mum’s house. You hate it here, we both know that.” Ara reached out a put hand on Selene’s knee. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You’re wrong.” Selene tried to push Ara’s hand away, only for Ara to lace her fingers through her’s.

“About what.” Ara let go of Jon’s hand and gently guided Selene to look at her with a hand on her cheek. 

“This isn’t my mum’s house.” Selene looked through Ara. “She’s gone, left a note saying she wasn’t coming back. Said I was old enough to deal with myself.” Ara didn’t know what to say, she looked over to Jon who was equally dumbfounded. 

“Selene, please just look at me.” She begged. Selene’s eye’s remained distant. Ara frowned and moved her hands Selene’s shoulders. A look of anger passed over her face as she burned through the sleeves of her sweater. Selene was suddenly scrambling to stand and push away the source of the heat. She looked down at Ara and Jon and finally saw them. 

“What... what happened.” She looked down at them and rubbed at the reddened patches of skin on her shoulders.

“You got trapped here, so we came to rescue you.” Ara explained. Jon started leading them out of the Lonely.

“And you did that by burning my $800 Gucci sweater.” She laughed, her voice getting softer and softer as they reached the exit. 

“$800? That piece of shit deserved to burn!” Ara’s cries of ‘Eat the rich!’ echoed through the halls. They reached the big empty entrance hall and Jon pushed the the door open. They walked through the thick wall of fog and found themselves back in the hallway outside of room 37. Martin was there now with 12 teenagers trying to get him to stop freaking out. As soon as he saw Jon he ran and picked him up in a huge bear hug. They kissed, which every problem student declared as gross. 

“Okay, we ready to start class?” Jon asked the class after they separated. Sal raised her hand and Jon gestured for her to speak.

“Mr. Sims, it’s 2:45, we have to leave.” Jon looked down at his watch and, sure enough, it was time for the students to go home. He shrugged and dismissed everyone, but before any of them could get very far, Selene handed her notebook to Ara with a message to the class.

“Party at Selene’s place this Weekend!” She called. “Everyone’s invited!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this made me sad so I had to listen to Party Rock Anthem on a loop the whole time to combat that. I knew that I wanted it to be a Gucci sweater and I wrote like $150 Originally, thinking that was an outrageous number, but then I actually looked up how much a Gucci sweater costs and it filled me with unspeakable rage.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	7. The Man, The Moth, The Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Point Pleasant, West Virginia eat your heart out.

From an outside prospective, they almost looked like a normal family. There was one dad making French toast on the stove, the other one sitting in a big comfy chair and reading the news, a daughter scrolling through her phone from where she sat at the kitchen island, and her sister sitting next to her and checking her makeup in her phone’s camera. Of course, Martin wasn’t ready to call himself the girls dad, even if he cried tears of joy when he had accidentally been referred to as such. Jon was reading the paper to avoid making eye contact with Lucy. Lucy had only bothered doing makeup to cover up the deep bags under her eyes from yet another night of nightmares. Selene didn’t even live in the cottage, she just wasn’t comfortable sleeping in her big empty mansion, so she spent the night on the pull out couch.

Martin slid two plates of French toast and bacon over to the girls and carried a third over to his partner. They spent most of their meal in silence until both girl received notifications on their phone. Selene tossed her’s over to Jon who just barely caught it. The screen showed a group chat with all of the Problem Students, the most recent of the messages came from Mory, saying he would be out sick. Jon handed the phone back just in time to see Kit’s response of “get well soon... or else :)”

Sure enough when class began, Mory was nowhere to be seen. It was slightly strange not having the flap of moths wings in the background of their grammar lessons, but it had been expected. It had been Friday, so Jon didn’t worry to much, assuming that the young corruption avatar would be returning the following week. He didn’t. Simon mentioned Knowing that Mory still wasn’t feeling well, so everyone assumed he was still sick. Jon didn’t get properly concerned until Principal Hein called him.

“Hey, Becky.” Jon answered his phone and excused himself from the dinner table, going into the other room. They were spending the evening at Selene’s, so he tried not to wander far, knowing how easily he could get lost.

“Hi, Jon.” She was using that voice that teachers always use when they‘re about to tell you something bad. That voice that was always too cheerful for the awful news. “Have you heard anything from your student, Mory Hutton?”

“Some of the other kids in the class said he hasn’t been feeling well, why?” Jon was trying to suppress the knowledge of what had happened, which only made way for him to think up every other awful thing that could’ve happened.

“His parents haven’t heard from him since Thursday.” The principal’s voice wasn’t nearly as serious as the situation required, but Jon wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. His phone was dropped and forgotten as he ran back to the others. He turned to his students and slammed his hands on the table.

“Have either of heard from Mory since Friday?” Static filled the air, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about it.

“No.” Lucy said at the same time Selene shook her head and released a puff of fog.

“Is everything alright?” Martin stood and placed his hand on Jon’s shoulder. Jon shook his head and dropped into his chair. He clutched his head and widened his eyes in as he desperately attempted to See.

“No,” his head ached from all the useless information he was talking in. “Mory has been missing since Thursday. I can’t See him, can one of you call Simon? He might be helpful here.”

Lucy was already dialing her phone and Selene and Martin started walking Jon through breathing exercises. After a few minutes, there was a search party of Problem Students and their few other allies. Even Helen had been roped in somehow. Jon was walking through the woods on the eastern edge of town with Martin, Chuck, and a pair of spiders that Milly had provided. Chuck suddenly stopped and gasped.

“Oh fuck.” She mumbled. Martin and Jon turned to her and waited for an explanation. She looked up at them, but avoided meeting their eyes. “I smell blood.”

The Eye finally decided to be useful as every one of Jon’s sensed kicked into high gear. He found himself running towards where he Knew the scent of blood originated. Mory was half hidden by a bush, laying on the dirt in a pool of his own blood. Jon was so distracted by the most obvious concern of the scene that he hardly noticed the wounds that the blood originated from. There were holes in Mory’s head and back from which sprouted a pair of antennae and a pair of wings. His eyes slowly opened to reveal the they were pure black.

“Mr. Sims?” He sat up slightly and winced at the pain.

“Yeah, it’s me.” In the moonlight, Jon could see the pair of fluffy white wings with dried blood soaked into their bases. Silk moth, his mind provided. “Can you stand?”

“I think so.” With Jon’s Yelp, Mory struggled up to his feet just as Martin and Chuck caught up.

“Oh, wow.” Martin stared at Mory’s wings, silhouetted by the moon and stars. A part of his brain started to think up poetry to describe the sight. Another part thought about the Mothman. Jon awkwardly wrapped his arm around his student’s shoulders and under his wings, half guiding, half carrying him back to the mansion. The spiders that Milly had sent with them had already managed to spread the word that Mory had been found, so they came home only to Lucy and Selene. Chuck headed back to her own home and the five of them were left alone.

“I suppose you should get cleaned up before you head home.” Martin gently patted the shoulder of Mory, who was seeming a lot more responsive after a cup of tea and what was left of the stew that had been for dinner. 

“I’m not sure I can go home.” Mory’s antennae twitched slightly and he curled in on himself slightly. “I mean, I can’t exactly hide what I am from them anymore. I can’t imagine what that conversation is gonna be.”

“We can figure it out when you don’t have blood in your hair.” Lucy argued and Selene pointed in the direction she was pretty sure the bathroom was in. Half an hour later, Mory was wearing a pair of sweatpants and an old t-shirt with holes cut down the back. Jon silently wondered how he reached his back to wash around the base of his wings.

Jon and Mory were stood outside the Hutton residence around midnight. The lights were still on in what was presumably the parents room and Jon Knew they couldn’t sleep from worry. He knocked on the door and saw a silhouette running down to answer it. The door was opened by a tired looking man, his husband stood slightly behind him. The moment they saw Mory, their faces flooded with relief. And then they saw the wings. Their confusion and fear outshined their relief for just a moment before they both ran forward and wrapped their arms around their son. Questions were asked, answered, and avoided, but the most important this was that Mory was home. Jon quietly excused himself when Mory’s little sisters woke up and started asking if he was a fairy. 

He returned to the too large mansion and found his way to the bedrooms. He checked in on the girls, both sleeping soundly, before heading into the room that he and Martin had claimed for when they spent the night. He began to lay down before thinking back to the image of Lucy laying peacefully in her bed. He decided to let her sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interesting fun fact: I actually put a lot of thought into each of the students names. Mory’s name comes from Bombyx Mori, the scientific name for silk moths. I’ve decided to have an actual update schedule since school started for me (though I can’t promise to actually follow it), so the plan is to update this fic every other weekend. It’s gonna alternate with my other big fic, Lyf the archivist, which is another reason I needed a schedule.  
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	8. The King Of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kit doesn’t like their powers.
> 
> Content warning: suicide and death. Tread lightly.

The problem students were banned from doing a lot of things at their school. Sal got them banned from the cafeteria by baring her teeth (she didn’t mean to, that’s just what happens when your eating), Lucy got them banned from sporting events by punching the mother of one of the players (the mother had it coming after what she said about Bette), but Kit is the one who got them banned from clubs. They hadn’t even done anything with their powers, The Card and Board Game Club just wanted them gone. The thing was, Kit never lost a game, they even dominated at high card draw, so no one was willing to play against them. Mr. Perry, the teacher who ran the club, lied and said Kit had caused trouble, and just like that, the Problem Students were banned from clubs.

This was, of course, a monumentally bad decision. The loss of after school activity meant that the Problem Students lost all chance of interacting with people their age who weren’t avatars. All of their powers began to develop faster which would’ve been a disaster if anyone but Jon was their teacher. Mory was learning to use his wings properly, Simon figured out how to read his classmates thoughts, Tamala gained the ability to make lightbulbs literally explode, and Kit started to get a very clear sense of things. Every now and then, they’d see a post on the internet or even a stranger on the street, and they’d think to themself “you’re gonna die tonight.” After the first few times, they stopped doing any sort of follow-up, they were always right.

The other reason the Problem Students being banned from clubs was bad, was Santeri Knight. Santeri was the youngest of four, but his two oldest siblings were too old for them to have anything in common. The youngest of his older siblings, his sister, had just gone off to college and he got the feeling that she wasn’t coming back. Who would wanna come back to that home anyways? When his parents weren’t ignoring each other or trying to use their kids to fix their marriage, they were having intense screaming matches that Santeri could hear through the painfully thin walls. 

Despite the circumstances of his family, Santeri was brilliant. There was only one person in his grade who could keep up with his mind, but he lost that friendship when Simon was sent down to room 37. Not wanting to become completely isolated from his peers, he joined Card and Board Game Club. Here his intellect posed a new challenge, no one could beat him. No one wanted to hang out with the kid who kicked their ass every Tuesday, so he was still alone. That was, until Kit joined. They were unbeatable, even at games that were pure luck, it was almost like there was a supernatural force that caused them to win. Santeri was no longer the unbeatable outcast, things were starting to look up for him. And then Kit was banned and everything went to shit.

He wouldn’t blame Kit for his plans that night. He wouldn’t blame his siblings or his parents or his teachers or his peers. He knew, logically speaking, that it was his own fault. He was broken on a fundamental level. His mind spat venomous self-hatred that festered in his bones and bled out of the thin scars that were covered by his sleeves. He was different from those around him and that difference made him weak, lesser. It’s survival of the fittest, he told himself, I’m just not fit to survive. 

Santeri was snapped out of his thoughts by Kit’s voice down the mostly empty hallway.

“Hey, Santeri!” They called as they ran up to him. The closer they got, the more the thought persisted. This was the first time their powers told them that someone they knew was gonna die.

“Oh, hey Kit.” Santeri smiled brightly and waved. Kit barely knew him, no reason to worry them.

“I haven’t seen you around much since I got kicked out.” Kit’s smile was also fake. They walked alongside him to his next class. “We should hangout sometime.”

“You know we’re going the opposite direction of 37, right?” There was really no reason for them to put themself out for him.

“I’m a Problem Student, we’re expected to be late to class. Mr. Sims won’t mind.” That was a lie, but if Mr. Sims got worried, he or Simon could check where they were. “C’mon, are you free to hang out tonight? I’ll bring my deck so I can own you at kings in the corner. I might even let you win a few hands.”

“I’ve actually got plans for tonight, maybe another time.” Thankfully, Kit fell back after that. They looked like they were on the verge of tears, but Santeri couldn’t figure out why. It made him feel like shit to turn them down like that, maybe it was that God that his mom was so sure existed trying to guilt trip him. It wouldn’t stop him though, his mind was made up.

At 9:45 pm Santeri folded up a note and placed it on his side table. He wasn’t particularly satisfied with what he wrote, but after ten drafts, he decided it was never gonna be perfect. Go out on an anticlimactic and imperfect note, it was almost poetic the way it reflected his life. His earlier encounter with Kit did give him a bit of inspiration. Folded inside the note was a card from his favorite deck. The king of hearts, the suicide king.

From the research he did, he knew that taking 600mg of his sleeping medication would cause an overdose. He’d be taking 900. The pills dissolved slightly in his mouth, leaving a poisonous aftertaste. He fell asleep before he died. His eyes reopened to his own body, laying limp in his bed. It was a sad sight, definitely not what he’d hoped for from the afterlife, but it confirmed that he’d been successful in his endeavors. He didn’t know where he was supposed to go next, so he settled in. He sat on the floor with is back to his body, it hurt to look at. 

His dad was drunk downstairs, his mom was crying in her bedroom, death felt uncomfortably close to being alive. A key difference, though, was that someone was breaking in through his window. After a few moments of struggling, Kit fell unceremoniously into their room. They stood up and scanned the room. Their eyes drifted calmly over the body in the bed and landed straight onto the spirit sat on the floor.

“Hi, Santeri.” Kit frowned and grabbed his deck of cards off of the bookshelf.

“Hi, Kit.” He mumbled, his voice echoed slightly. 

“I see I was too late.” They sat down on the floor across from him and started shuffling the deck. Santeri couldn’t bring himself to question what they were doing there. It felt right somehow, like they belonged among the dead.

“Don’t feel bad, this was my intention.” He did want this, right? This was the goal, why did he still feel so sad?

“I don’t suppose you’d like to play a game?” Kit started dealing the cards before he answered.

“Why?” Kit was setting up a game of king’s corner, they had offered to play earlier that day.

“If you win,” they explained “you can come back to life.”

“I wanted to die.” He argued.

“Then lose.” Kit started the game off strong, placing five of their seven cards. Santeri barely put any effort in, but found that they were to prideful to simply throw the game. Soon enough, the tables began to turn. Kit drew several useless cards in a row while Santeri just needed to draw the seven of spades to clear his hand. He didn’t manage to draw it, but Kit placed it, and Santeri won.

“I’ve never seen you lose.” He looked up in shock. Kit placed their hand out in front of them. The cards were perfectly arranged, Queen to ace in alternating black and red. They would’ve been able to place them all at once if only they’d drawn...

Santeri woke up in his bed. It was morning, was that a dream? They looked at their nightstand. There was no note, but their deck was there with one card set out face up. The king of hearts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want it to be noted that Santeri’s thoughts about himself in no way reflect my own thoughts about people with depression. A lot of what he thinks and does is reflective of my own thoughts and experiences a few years back when I was going through some similar things. I really didn’t mean to project so hard when writing this chapter, but here we are.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	9. Rat Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bette’s brother reads Animorphs.

Jon wasn’t a fan of speaking to Helen, but that was largely because whenever he spoke to her, she would tell him horribly upsetting things. Today was not an exception. Jon was actually walking through Helen’s hallways at the moment, contemplating the horribly upsetting things he’d just been told. They were all about Bette, the Spiral avatar in his class.

The first horribly upsetting thing was something that Jon already knew, but didn’t like to think about. Most people who knew Bette weren’t 100% sure she existed. Any friends she had outside of the Problem Students believed her to be imaginary and there was no way to prove them wrong. Jon knew this logically, but didn’t like thinking about it because it meant that any non-avatars that knew Bette, didn’t know she was a real person. Including her family. Helen has just informed Jon that Bette had been living in the attic of her house, since the room she lived in before becoming an Avatar was now used as her father’s office. This was very upsetting, but not the most upsetting thing that Jon had just learned.

The second horribly upsetting thing was that Bette had never learned how to read. Jon had actually heard her say this a few times, but had assumed that she was making a reference to Jared, 19, and not being serious. Apparently, since no one knew she existed, no one had been able to teach Bette how to read. Helen said she had made an attempt, but honestly had no clue how to read anymore either. This, however upsetting, was actually a good thing because...

Horribly upsetting thing number three was that Bette’s mother had somehow managed to obtain a large collection of Leitners and she stored them in the attic, with her nonexistent daughter. Bette was unable to read these books and was therefore unaffected, but her brother, Ben, had recently found them and started reading. That’s why Jon was in Helen’s hallways, they were going to Bette’s house to help.

Helen and Jon exited the hallways through the yellow door in the attic that definitely wasn’t supposed to be there because, y’know, who had a door in their attic? Among the dusty piles of boxes was a pile of spare blankets and pillows, upon which sat Bette and a rat. Jon Knew that the rat was named Ben and... Oh. The rat was Bette’s brother. Not great. In front of the two of them was a book. It looked almost like one of the Animorphs novels and the cover showed a girl turning into, unsurprisingly, a rat.

“I can see the family resemblance.” Helen joked, bending over to pick up Ben. He struggled slightly, but calmed down when Helen began to run one of her sharp fingers across his back in a way that might be considered petting.

“I’m not sure if that’s more offensive to him or me.” Bette mumbled. She didn’t look to be doing well. Her hair was cycling through hundreds of different styles, textures, and colors. The shape of her pupils was changing from stars to triangles to some sort of indescribable, 4-dimensional object. Her outfit shifted from normal jeans and a t-shirt into a unicorn onesie into a rococo style ball gown. She looked, for a moment, like Marie Antoinette, then an extra in the Party Rock Anthem video, then a normal teenager. 

“Everything is going to be okay.” Jon bent down in front of Bette and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and he noticed the neon green tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. “We’re gonna find a way to fix this.”

“How?” Bette ask, her voice sound distorted and almost auto-tuned.

“I don’t know, but we will.” Jon helped her up and led her back into the hallways. Soon enough, they arrived back at Selene’s mansion. Ben was transferred into the safer and less knife shaped hands of Martin, while Lucy and Selene immediately took to comforting their classmate. Jon attempted to use the Eye to understand Ben’s squeaks, but that was only partially effective. It did confirm that he was still sentient, presumably because he didn’t read the book in its entirety.

“Bette, do you know if your parents have noticed that Ben is missing.” Martin moved over to the sitting room where Selene was attempting to paint Bette’s nails. Key word being attempting, seeing as her nails changed length every few seconds.

“As far as I could tell, they thought he’d been a rat the whole time.” She frowned. She made an attempt to pet her brother-rat, but Selene pulled her hand back to prevent her from ruining the polish. “I took him up to the attic because I saw them setting traps for him.”

“That’s not ideal.” Helen sighed and patted Bette on the head. After a moment of silence, Jon burst in carrying a stack of files, a small box of tapes, and his laptop. He dropped everything on a chair and clapped his hands to grab everyone’s attention.

“Okay, I have a plan that might work.” He walked them through his plan. It didn’t seem perfect, but it was all they had. Lucy called Dolly and Milly and an hour later, they arrived. Dolly was making the finishing touches on a rat shaped doll.

“Okay, here’s how this is gonna work.” She explained, holding up the doll to show a seam that ran down its stomach. “I’m gonna give the Ben doll to Milly who will then turn it inside out into its human shape.” Dolly reached into the seam and turned the doll inside out to reveal the human doll inside. She flipped it back to rat form and passed it over to Milly.

“Fair warning.” Milly took the doll and held it carefully. “This is probably going to hurt a lot.”

Milly took control, holding the Ben doll with both of her hands. Ben shifted slightly, his back arching like some had picked him up from his stomach. Milly stuck her fingers into the seam and Ben let out a pained squeak. The sight of him shifting back into a human is perhaps too upsetting to be described here, but let it be known that it was unpleasant for all parties involved. Milly carefully set down the doll and before them stood a young man who looked incredibly similar to Bette. Bette ran to him and wrapped him in a hug. With them standing so close to each other, it set in for Jon that they were actually twins.

“How- how did any of you do any of that?” Ben muttered into his sister’s shoulder.

“It’s a long story.” She responded, pulling back, but not quite letting go.

“Bette... you’re real.” Ben’s eyes widened with the revelation. “We thought you were just an in joke. My secret sister who lives in the attic. You’re real.”

“Yeah, I am.” Bette laughed a little. 

“Mom and dad thought I was a rat.” Ben slowly found his way into one of the big chairs positioned around the room. “They probably still do. Where am I even gonna go.”

“There’s not enough room in the cottage,” Martin frowned. “Unless you all want to start sharing beds.”

Selene snapped her fingers and help up her notebook for everyone to see. “There’s plenty of space in the mansion.” It read. Bette squinted at it for a moment.

“What the hell does that say?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bette’s living situation is inspired by an actual inside joke in my family that I have a secret brother who lives in my attic (His name is Melvin). Once again the characters in this fic are all just me.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	10. It’s a Mother’s Job to Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit about the mother of Flint, resident Buried Avatar of room 37

Dr. Mason was a kind looking woman. In her life, she’d know very little worry. Everything had gone well for her, she had good grades, great parents, and met the love of her life a week into college. The two of them got married and had two baby boys, Jeremy and Flint. Her life was, for the most part, perfect, and she’d never had a reason to be worried. Then Flint stopped breathing.

He wasn’t dead, which she was eternally grateful for, but he definitely wasn’t breathing. She couldn’t be sure when he stopped, but one day she suddenly noticed that there was no consistent in-out rhythm coming from her son. She’d initially assumed that his breath was just quiet, she just couldn’t hear it, but over the next few days, she was painfully aware of the way that her son’s chest didn’t rise and fall.

She was a doctor for god’s sake, she knew for a fact that a person could not live without breathing. Yet, here was Flint, sitting at the kitchen table, doing his homework, and not breathing. She’d known before this that her son was a bit strange, there was a reason that he was placed with the “Problem Students” after all, but this was ridiculous. She’d tried to point it out to her husband, but he’d laughed it off. Of course our son is breathing, he’d said, it would be crazy to think otherwise. 

Dr. Mason wasn’t crazy. She knew for a fact that Flint no longer breathed. If not from the evidence in front of her, the clear fact that he was not breathing, then from the evidence she felt inside of her. When she watched Flint for too long, her chest became tight. She’d often found herself holding her own breath until she was lightheaded. She’d had to excuse herself from the room every time she was alone with her son, for fear that she would suffocate just from being around him. Someone else had to have noticed and, if her husband wasn’t any help, she’d go or Flint’s teacher.

Flint had spoken highly of Mr. Sims, said the he was the best teacher he’d ever had. Dr. Mason had only met him once and thought he was a bit of a prick. Still, he answered to her email quickly and set up a time for them to meet.

“Good Afternoon, Dr. Mason.” Mr. Sims politely welcomed her into a small wooden cottage. She had been familiar with the place before hand, but she was incredibly shocked that this is where he’d wanted to meet. It was on the edge of town and everyone was certain it was abandoned. Apparently Jon lived here.

“Afternoon, Mr. Sims. I have to admit, I was a little shocked that you wanted to meet at your home.” She plastered on a smile as Mr. Sims led her to sit in one of the two large chairs that sat in front of the wood burning stove that heated the house.

“Oh no, I don’t live here.” Mr. Sims sat down in the other chair.

“You don’t?” She asked, hoping for a little clarification on why exactly she was in this building if it wasn’t the teacher’s home.

“I used to, but me and my partner recently moved.” He explained. He looked at her for a moment and nodded. Then he answered her next question before she asked it. “It was the only private place I could think of for us to meet.”

“Alright...” Dr. Mason was starting to regret coming to Mr. Sims for help. “I wanted to talk to you about Flint.”

“You said in your email.” Mr. Sims frowned. “You sounded worried, is he alright?”

“I’m not sure.” She tapped her fingers nervously on the arm of the chair. Mr. Sims stared at her with interest in his eyes. “Have you noticed anything... off about him.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.” Mr. Sims laughed slightly, as though there was some sort of joke that she wasn’t in on.

“Look, I know that what I’m about to say is going to sound crazy, but please, for Flint’s sake, you have to believe me.” Mr. Sims nodded seriously and waited for her to continue. “Flint doesn’t breathe anymore.”

“Well yes, that’s to be expected.” Me. Sims smiled like what she just said wasn’t absolutely insane. She stared at him, waiting for what she said to sink in and for him to be gripped by the same panic and worry that had held onto her for weeks, but he just kept smiling.

“I’m not sure you understand.” She started. “He doesn’t breathe. Y’know, taking in oxygen with his lungs? He doesn’t do that.”

“I understand perfectly, Dr. Mason,” Mr. Sims shook his head. “But like I said, that’s to be expected with someone like him.”

“What the hell does that mean?” She was yelling now and Mr. Sims looked at her like she was the one having an inappropriate reaction. 

“Breathing just isn’t a necessary action for him and his ilk.” Mr. Sims explained calmly. “It’s been almost a year for him now, I’m honestly a little shocked that he didn’t stop sooner.”

“What do you mean ‘his ilk?’” Dr. Mason found herself on her feet, yelling down at the teacher who was still sat in the overstuffed chair. 

“Your son accidentally became connected to something called the Buried.” Mr. Sims sighed. “It’s often associated with suffocating, so it makes sense that he wouldn’t need to breathe. If it’s this distressing, I can work with him on mimicking normal breathing.”

“You know how crazy you sound, right?” Dr. Mason collapsed back into her chair. She tangled her fingers into the curls of her hair and hid her face in her knees. “Mimicking breathing? He’s just a human and the last time I checked, humans need to breathe.”

“I hate to be the one to break it to you, Doctor, but you’re son is not a human.” Dr. Mason was on the verge of having a panic attack when he said that. The irony of her hyperventilate was not lost on her, but it certainly wasn’t funny.

“Then- then what is he?” She asked quietly between heavy breaths. Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks.

“Things like him, and me, and all of the Problems Students, have been called many things. The best term that I have for it, is Avatars.” Mr. Sims’ voice was slightly closer to her now and she was vaguely aware of him kneeling by her side. “We are people who, by choice or by accident, became connected to certain powers that feed on the fear of others. The Buried, the one that Flint serves, is the fear of tight spaces, of being trapped, of suffocation.”

“Like-“ Dr. Mason couldn’t believe she was believing any of this, but there wasn’t much of a choice at this point. “Like claustrophobia?”

“Yes, exactly.” There was a smile in Mr. Sims voice, but she still refused to look at him.

“And he-he feeds on fear?” She started thinking back on moments in her son’s life when she should’ve noticed something was off. Every time Jeremy buried him in the sand, or every time he hid in the little nook below her desk when he got to nervous. His obsession with that weighted blanket that her husband had gotten him now made more sense.

“Not exclusively, I’ve heard wonderful things about your peach cobbler.” Mr. Sims assured. That managed to get a small laughed out of her. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but the most important thing to note here is that, despite everything, Flint is still your son. He’s so young, he needs support and he needs anchors to help him hold onto his humanity. You think you can do that?”

“I- yeah. Yeah, I can do that.” She finally looked up at Mr. Sims, crouching next to her. He smiled kindly and held out a box of tissues. Then he walked her back to her car and wished her a good evening.

Dr. Mason’s hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel of her car as she drove home. She pulled up her driveway and sat there for several minutes, thinking about what Mr. Sims had said. Flint needed support, he needed an anchor, and goddamn it all if she wasn’t gonna be there for him. She got out of her car and headed into her house. Her husband immediately noticed her tear-streaked face and asked if she was okay, but she pushed past him towards the kitchen table where Flint did his homework every day. As soon as she saw him, she wrapped him in the tightest bear hug that she could muster. It occurred to her that, if her were anyone else, she would have knocked the air out of him.

“You were meeting with Mr. Sims, right?” He asked, she nodded into his shoulder. “And he told you about me?”

“Yes, I don’t understand everything, but I’d like to.” She pulled back slightly and saw a smile stretched across her son’s face.

“I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, I just didn’t know how to bring something like that up.” Flint pulled his blanket tighter over his shoulders to account for the lost weight of the hug. “On a slightly related note, can my friend Mory come over after school tomorrow? We have a group project to work on and his sisters won’t let us get any work done at his house.”

“Of course.” She agreed, not thinking too hard about the fact that Mr. Sims said that All of Flint’s classmates were like him. She only screamed a little the next day when Flint led a boy with wings and antennas into their house. She definitely didn’t understand, but Mory complimented her on her peach cobbler and that was gonna have to be enough for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate talking about breathing so much why would I do this to myself. Anyway, this is coming out as a person who doesn’t need to breathe.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


	11. Author’s Note!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s me, the person who writes this story!!! That’s right, I can talk!!!

Hello, it’s me, Asterisk! I am doing something that years of “gifted student” education has taught me not to do and asking for help! I have one request of all of you, Send! Me! Writing Prompts!!! I don’t know what to do with these characters, so I’d like you to tell me what to do with these characters. You can send prompts through the comments here on ao3 or on my tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog or on my Twitter @astera_emmaline. I can’t promise I’ll get to every prompt, but I think some audience participation will do this story some good. I’m open to receiving an prompts that include Jon, Martin, Daisy, Basira, Melanie, Georgie, Ara, Avery, Bette, Dolly, Flint, Kit, Lucy, Milly, Mory, Sal, Samir, Simon, Tamala, Ben, Santeri, Chuck, Dr. Mason, Helen, any other teachers at the school, any staff at the library that Martin volunteers at, or any of the problem students’ families. Thank you for all the support you’ve shown me and thanks in advance for any and all prompts! You’re lovely <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need ~inspiration~!!! Sorry there’s no actual chapter this weekend, things will resume on a normal schedule the weekend of the 5th. I don’t really have an end goal or over arching plot for this so really any prompts will do. I’ll leave you with one final, haunting thought, all these children have scottish accents 
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog, or on Twitter @astera_emmaline. That’s right, I’m expanding my social media reach! (I hate Twitter so much it’s unreal :/)


	12. The Mystery of Jonathan Sims and Mark Blackwood pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people of the small, Scottish town of Ashwith are very curious about the two British men who recently moved in.   
> Prompts from Anachronistic_Cat who suggested: Staff room rumours,,,,,,, other teachers wondering at how easily Jon deals w the problem students and slowly coming to the realisation that he is also One Of Them. This got a bit out of had, but we’ll get to the staff rumors in part 2.

Jonathan Sims was a very strange man. Even before he started working at Ashwith Highschool, most of the teachers there had heard about him. Two British men moving into to cottage at the edge of town that had been abandoned for years, it wasn’t really that unusual, but news travels fast in a small town. For the first month of them living there, no one ever really saw them. They kept to themselves, only coming into town when they needed groceries, or occasional to check out an absolutely unreasonable amount of books from the library. The library is where everyone got their first bits of new information about them in the month since their arrival. 

The taller man with the curly white hair and gray eyes was named Martin, and his partner, with long, graying hair, bright green eyes, and many, many scars, was Jon, and they were from London. This was discovered when Martin saw a flyer asking for volunteers at the library, and began shelving books there. It was also discovered that both he and his partner had experience in libraries and archives, but didn’t like talking about it. This raised the first theory about Jon and Martin.

As the original theory went like this: Jon and Martin met while working at some sort of library or archive in London. They started dating, but their workplace was hostile towards them for their relationship, so they ran off to Scotland. This was a flimsy theory, but it started to spread quickly. The largest hole poked in it was when Martin off-handedly mentioned that he and Jon had only been dating for a few months.

Now, learning Martin’s second name hadn’t been much of a big deal. Neither Martin, nor Blackwood were very uncommon names, so looking him up didn’t do much. People were able to find a few social media accounts that they figured were his. Namely an Instagram account, MKBlackwood, that was home to several aesthetically pleasing pictures of tea, biscuits, and books, half written poetry, and, more recently, many pictures of highland cows.

Finding out Jon’s last name was much more interesting. Googling Jonathan Sims didn’t bring up much social media, but rather, a range of articles where he was mentioned or quoted. There were a few conspiracy theory blogs that mentioned him for his work at the Magnus Institute, a paranormal research institute that was largely thought to be, quite frankly, bullshit, a missing persons report from a little over a year prior, an article about his miracle coma a few months ago, and, most concerning, several articles that claimed he was a person of interest in not one, but three murders.

The people of Ashwith had a new theory: a killer and his boyfriend run off from their jobs at a phony institute to go into hiding in a small town in Scotland. Needless to say, everyone started avoiding them like the plague. Still, Martin came into work every day he could. He was nice, made polite conversation, and he brewed amazing tea. Everyone collectively decided that there was no way that he knew what his partner had done. This led to people constantly inviting Martin out, trying to get him as far from Jon as possible. Esther Lee invited him to her knitting circle, Howard McKinnley talked him into playing a weekly game of football with him and some other guys around town, Old Billy even let him start coming to his barn and spend as much time with his cows as he wanted. Martin was happy enough to be doing stuff around town, but he never really strayed to far from Jon. Then, everything changed after the Storm. 

Everyone had their own stories about the storm, but the most notable report came from Winny Jacobs and her husband, Todd. This is how her story goes:

“Y’know, it wis supposit tae rain anyway, sae me an todd weren’t aw thon worriit whan we saw the clouds rollin i. A personally only got concernit whan A saw Martin on ane o his walks. Poor boy haed nothin but ane o his jumpers, i’m pretty sure it wis the ane esther made for him. A callit him up tae the porch tae get him a jacket an an umbrella, he triit tae turn doun the offer, but A insistit. We talkit for a bit after thon, he askit after ma kids an A telt him they were up at their nanny’s thon weekend. He went along on his way an A went on inside tae get away from the storm. 

as the wind pickit up faster an faster an the rain startit comin doun harder, A couldn’t really brin myself tae be worriit aboot him. Ma mind kept wanderin other places. A donae quite know hou tae describe it, but A felt like A wis bein watchit. Todd says he felt it ower an i’m sure half o Ashwith wad say the same thing, maybe e'en aw o us. At some point A lookit oot the windae an A saw the clouds makin this weird shape. Gin A haed tae say whit it wis, i’d call it a half open ee. Whan A lookit doun at the road A saw martin runnin doun the road back towards thon cottage.

the storm passit o course, as did thon strange feelin. It wis aboot a week later an na ane haed seen martin syne i’d seen him runnin home thon nicht, sae A figurit he must’ve gotten sick from walkin around i thon rain. A cookit up some o ma famous chicken soup an A walkit it doun tae thon cottage. Whan A knockit on the door, Jon answerit. Now ye aw know thon i’m no much o a fan o thon man, but A will say, he leuk more well restit than i’d iver seen him. As it turnit oot, Martin wasnae sick, he came tae the door, returnit ma jacket, thankit me for the soup, an apologizit ower an ower again for losin ma umbrella. Thon wis aboot it, ye aw know whit happenit after thon.”

What happened after that, was Martin and Jon started going out again, this time together more often than not. They seemed happier than ever, and Winny was right, Jon did seem much more well rested than anyone had ever seen him. Friends started visiting them, a blind woman, her girlfriend, and their cat stayed with them for a little while, and people around town managed to figure out that they were both slightly famous in the paranormal investigation community. Two more women visit and most of the town clocked them as cops, a few days after that visit ended, all charges against and investigations into Jonathan Sims were dropped. They suddenly seemed like a perfectly normal part of the community. And then Jon finally got a job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went a bit crazy on the Scottish vernacular lol, sorry about that. It was a fun writing exercise for me, sorry if it’s hard to understand. Thank you again to Anachronistic_Cat as well as everyone else who sent in prompts, I’m very excited to get to all of that.
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog, on Twitter @astera_emmaline, or on Instagram @asterisk_emily.

**Author's Note:**

> Interesting fun fact I’m projecting so much onto the students. My grandfather taught me how to remove someone’s eye by using his own glass eye. Room 37 is based entirely off of the room I took history in last year. Should I make more of this? I don’t know  
> Come talk to me on tumblr @my-shitty-taz-fanblog


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